Know Your Enemy – A scouting report of the Packers offense and defense

* Aaron Rodgers just hasn’t been able to find his rhythm just yet. Greg Jennings has played sparingly, Jordy Nelson has been a relative non-factor and Jermichael Finley doesn’t look like he’s going to return to his 2010 form any time soon. Last year at this time, Rodgers has 14 TDS, 2 INTs, 1721 yards passing and 9.56 yards per pass attempt. This year, he’s got 10 TDs to 4 INTs with only 6.9 yards per attempt and 1299 yards. The Packers haven’t been able to get the vertical passing game going and some of that has been due to suspect pass protection.

* The Packers offensive line was embarrassed on national television by the Seattle Seahawks and they simply haven’t been able to consistently protect Rodgers, but Rodgers hasn’t helped them much as he’s been hanging onto the ball a little too long. J.J. Watt and Antonio Smith should have very favorable matchups inside and I wouldn’t be surprised if Connor Barwin picked up his first sack of the year today against LT Marshall Newhouse who is a sub-par pass protector.

* Green Bay is very creative with their backfield formations and usage of WR Randall Cobb. With Brian Cushing out, the Texans will be playing quite a bit of nickel defense, but Cushing was the nickel linebacker. You had better believe that Packers head coach Mike McCarthy will be firing multiple formations at the Texans to see how Wade decides to defend it and from there, McCarthy will attempt to isolate the Texans LBs in coverage.

* The Packers 4 WR sets could cause major problems for the Texans if they can protect. The Texans will have to play their dime package against this look with Joseph, Jackson, McCain and probably Quin playing heads-up on those wide receivers. This means that the Texans will have Danieal Manning and Troy Nolan back at safety. It is unlikely that Wade Phillips will want Nolan as the primary deep defender so look for the Texans to have to play both safeties deep more than Wade might like. The 49′ers had some success blitzing off of the slot so we could see Quin attacking from that spot from time to time, but McCain will have his hands full today at nickel.

* The Packers may have lost Ced Benson, but they gained much more quickness in Alex Green. While we’re hearing that Alex Green and James Starks will both get carries, Green gives the Packers running game more burst than we’ve seen in a long, long time and the Packers will run the ball from a standard I-formation, from a single setback look and from the shotgun with an inside handoff. The shotgun rushing attack is what worries me the most because the Texans will be spread thin across the front and will already be charging up the field in their 1-gap scheme. This could lead to some big rushing lanes for the Packers.

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On Defense

* Clay Matthews is off to one of those (MVP caliber) types of seasons again and the Packers are moving him all over the field. I was watching the coaches tape from Green Bay and Indianapolis and I realized that Matthews has become an altered version of Troy Polamalu. Like Polamalu, Matthews is used all over the field and is hard to account for pre-snap. The Packers will line him up as a pass rusher on both sides of the line, but they are also standing him up and letting him line up over the A-gaps as well. Matthews dropped in coverage much more than I expected against the Colts and looked incredibly fluid in coverage. What scares me the most is Matthews’ new pet move. Matthews will line up as an OLB in the Packers 3-4 look, but right before the snap, he’ll slide quickly inside and dart in between the guard and tackle in the B-gap. This move will be hard for the Texans right side of the line to handle.

* Packers CB Tramon Williams is much healthier this year and is playing very well. Sure, Williams struggled at at times last weekend against Reggie Wayne, but for the most part, he’s been much better after recovering from a shoulder issue that plagued him last year. Charles Woodson isn’t what he once was in coverage and the Packers like to utilize him around the line of scrimmage in run support and as a blitzer. With his ability to cover Owen Daniels and line up around the box against the run, Woodson might be the most important player on the field today against the Texans offense.

* Since losing Cullen Jenkins, the Packers haven’t been the same against the run. Green Bay’s defensive front has been ravaged by injuries, free agency departure and codeine (Johnny Jolly) over the last few years and they aren’t as dominant against the run as they once were. Both Green Bay and Seattle committed to the run and both teams had success. Outside of rookie Jerel Worthy and injured B.J. Raji, the Packers aren’t all that agile up front and should have some issues against the Texans zone scheme.

* Dom Capers will certainly respect the Texans play-action attack so look for the Packers to stay at home on the bootleg. I’ve seen more and more teams keep their DEs/OLBs at home on the weakside and attacking Matt Schaub if he bootlegs to that side. The Texans haven’t been able to get the cutbacks going in their running game so the Packers might take a chance on winning with their front and leaving the backside defender to spy Schaub in order to shut down easy looks for him down the field.

* Aside from the Bears game where they turned the Bears over 4 times, Green Bay isn’t getting takeaways. The Packers have a philosophy of taking more chances on defense because they know their offense can get points back if need be, but the turnovers aren’t coming this year. The Texans will likely utilize James Casey in a “joker” role more often on offense in an attempt to keep the Packers LBs honest and we’ll probably see the Texans throw out of their 2 RB or 2 TE sets so that Green Bay is forced to stay in base packages. If the Texans always have a running look out on the field, the Packers will have to respect that which could open up more screen passes and playaction off the inside running game.

1. Connor Barwin has been a non-factor this year in the pass rush, but with a favorable matchup against Marshall Newhouse, we should see #98 around the QB more than we’ve seen at any other time this year.

2. Randall Cobb is a major concern for the Texans on offense and in special teams. Cobb is a utility option on offense if McCarthy chooses to utilize him as such so he could see some favorable matchups. The bigger concern is probably that he is an explosive returner and the Texans have struggled on special teams.

DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE PACKERS. HOUSTON’S OFENSIVE PLAY CALLERS WILL THROW INC ON 1 RUN UP THE MIDDLE ON 2 AND THEN MISTHROW ON 3RD BEFORE PUNTING AS USUAL. WHOEVER IS CALLING THE PLAYS TONIGHT SHOULD BE BANNED FROM FOOTBALL FOR LIFE. The offensive play caller and then the ref’s who are inventing penalties makes it look like the gamblers have this game rigged!!!!!! Then there is the problem of the secondary that can not stop the deep pass…. Oh well there is always next year…..